The Necromancer Who Was Despised - The Necromancer Who Was Despised chapter 154
Another week has passed.
I’ll continue to work hard to bring you better writing.
< Episode 147 ﹥ Rare
“…What’s going on?”
I asked, looking at her extremely urgent expression.
“I received news from over there.”
“News?”
“The Great Earth Temple has begun to move.”
It was much faster than expected.
‘I thought it would take a few years to prepare at least?’
“You’re moving too quickly.”
“Has the Holy Empire noticed and is putting pressure on us?”
“It’s not impossible.”
They had made a massive move.
This was the kingdom of Supeltran, but since the religion that spread across the continent was the Goddess Faith, there was no place the Empire’s hand couldn’t reach.
In reality, it was suspected that the relics I had revealed in the previous chapter were buried by the Goddess Faith or related factions.
Therefore, I had been thinking that it wouldn’t be strange if I were to be discovered at any time.
But even so, the fact that it was announced so quickly was still surprising.
“It seems that’s why the settlement has begun immediately.”
Settlement.
When I first traded with the royal family, I said that the items from the relics were mine.
I had prioritized purchasing items with historical or sacred value, but if I didn’t sell them, they would become mine anyway.
“Are there any sacred items?”
“They didn’t come out, apparently.”
‘It’s not like sacred items themselves are rare, anyway.’
It was strange that sacred items would come out every time we excavated related relics.
“There are quite a few items related to history, though. They want to buy most of them, it seems.”
“It’s better to sell them all, anyway.”
“After all, they’re useless to us even if we have them.”
“Is the artifact out?”
Artina smiled slightly at my words.
“Is it?”
“Yes. Since it’s an artifact, they sent it with the news right away.”
It’s good news, at least. After all, the royal family’s announcement isn’t always bad news for me.
If I were to completely fail at the idol academy, maybe, but the royal family must have thought something through to take such action.
The result hasn’t come out yet.
Artina glanced at Kayla and opened her mouth.
“Congratulations, Teacher. This is definitely yours.”
Kayla, who was listening to the news beside me, looked puzzled at Artina’s sudden words.
“What do you mean?”
“This.”
As if she had been waiting for my cue, Artina took out a shield from the artifact storage space.
“It’s called the Earth Shield. It’s an artifact from the ruins.”
The Earth Shield. The name oddly reminds me of the idol academy.
“It’s like the castle names too.”
The dry, barren entrance to the desert is guarded by the Desert Shield, and the path to the Monster Forest is blocked by the Forest Shield.
The artifact’s name being the Earth Shield is quite a coincidence.
“Originally, the idol academy from the past was going to make it a sacred relic, but it failed, apparently. As you can see, it doesn’t have any divine power and operates with mana. It’s estimated to be a dungeon drop.”
“A dungeon drop…”
When I heard about its abilities, I thought it would be better for Kayla to use it, just like Artina said.
As long as the owner stands on the ground, it has a high resistance to erosion and a self-repair function.
Its durability is exceptional, unable to be pierced by even a moderate attack, and it forms a strong shield around the user proportional to the mana used.
“…It’s definitely Kayla’s.”
The undead can’t use it. It’s based on mana.
If Valdure were to use it, it wouldn’t be as efficient as Kayla.
“Looking at its abilities, I think the royal family is trustworthy. They wouldn’t just give it away for a few coins.”
I’m not just a black magician, but a recognized black magician of the esteemed Renneta Viscount family, who has provided the royal family with significant benefits. They wouldn’t ruin that relationship for a small sum of money.
‘If they’re not planning to kill me, then even more so.’
Nobles prioritize honor over their lives, and the royal family is at the pinnacle of that.
At the very least, they have to maintain a thorough appearance, and the royal family wouldn’t choose to tarnish their honor for an artifact.
“…I already have many artifacts.”
Kayla showed a slightly hesitant expression at that moment.
But it’s clear that this is the artifact that would be most efficient for Kayla to use.
Moreover, its ability to expand the defense range beyond the shield, proportional to the mana used, would greatly aid her in her desired escort mission.
The erosion resistance is the same.
So, Kayla couldn’t refuse the shield, despite feeling burdened.
“I’ll do my best to protect you, Master.”
It was a grateful remark.
Anyway…
“Shall I write a letter, and go to the desert shield once more?”
“A letter?”
“It’s not a difficult task, but it’s quite important, don’t you think?”
“Now, slowly, the Lirneta Earl’s territory needs to get to work too.”
“Work?”
“…You’re thinking of making a debut, aren’t you?”
“Yes, I’m planning to invest as well.”
“A debut? An investment?”
Artina’s expression showed she didn’t quite understand, tilting her head.
“There’s money to be made from excavating relics.”
If they found any artifacts or useless relics, they would sell them all to the royal family.
The profit would be substantial.
Especially with artifacts, since they were discovered in the ancient ruins of the Great Temple, selling them to the royal family would yield a higher price than selling them to anyone else.
So, they would sell everything to the royal family.
The enormous sum of money earned would… mostly be reinvested in the Lirneta Earl’s territory.
“…You’re going that far?”
“We need to invest quickly, while we have the chance. Now is the best time.”
This kind of thing is usually done when you’re at the bottom, and it’s the best way to reap the highest profit.
Moreover, since the royal family is busy with the Great Temple, if we invest now, when the Lirneta Earl’s family recovers, we’ll receive preferential treatment from the royal family in this territory.
So, saying “now is the best time” was indeed a persuasive argument.
“I’m thinking of becoming inseparable from the Lirneta Earl’s territory.”
Due to my inherent limitations as a dark mage, I’ll be endlessly suspected, but still, having an eternal ally is a desire anyone would have.
If that ally is a powerful and strong force, it’s even better.
“So, I’ll cultivate it.”
I’ll prepare a safety net to prevent betrayal.
“You’ve failed countless times, so will you really take the investment smoothly?”
“Don’t you, as a lord, have desires? You can’t have desires in an environment where you can’t fulfill them, but if you think there’s a possibility, you’ll unconditionally take action, right?”
That’s how people’s desires work. Especially Lord Prina Lirneta, who seems to have affection for her own family.
“I’ve said I don’t want to resent my predecessors.”
Moreover, I had previously laid the groundwork, saying the Lirneta territory would prosper.
I think she’ll accept it.
“Well, if you think so… it’s not difficult to go back and forth.”
“Then, I have a favor to ask.”
In the end, Artina agreed to my request and left for the desert shield again a day later.
Kailra, to adapt to the new shield, had a light spar with one of the Elite Living Armor during the time I was busy with the territory, and it felt like temporarily borrowing one of Valdur’s subordinates.
Of course, Valdur’s permission was necessary, but it was natural that Valdur wouldn’t reject Kailra’s request, so it wasn’t difficult to find a sparring partner.
After a week or so of verification, I returned to my tower, judging that this place had also stabilized.
From the day I returned to my tower, the fierce competition for survival in the barren land began in earnest.
At first, it seemed like we were just barely holding on, but after a few months, we had completely occupied the oasis, and monsters started swarming in.
It took some time to realize that the monsters around me had been cleared out and the area had become empty.
The smell of blood never disappeared, and new monsters kept pouring in every day.
As the monsters on the ground decreased one by one, the monsters from underground began to appear, one by one.
Although they were all high-level monsters, they didn’t have the characteristic of independent living, so they didn’t suddenly swarm in; instead, the situation was somehow maintained.
The underground monsters seemed to be naturally drawn to this side as the prey on the ground moved towards us, rather than trying to reclaim the oasis.
The monsters I defeated became excellent resources for me, and with the accumulated blood and corpses, I finally succeeded in creating a blood lake in three oases.
The blood lake.
It was something I had wanted to create from the beginning, and its role was like a warp gate.
“The usage conditions are quite stringent, but…”
What’s important is that it’s possible.
Moving through it consumes a large amount of magic and blood, and it’s difficult to use during the day.
It’s not that it can’t be used at all, but the efficiency drops.
Even if it’s not possible to save the magic and blood consumed when opening the gate, it’s better to save them if possible.
The gate consumes magic and blood when opened, and every time someone uses the blood lake to move, magic and blood are consumed again.
In reality, the undead would be the main users, as they could move with much fewer resources than humans.
The amount of resources consumed varied depending on the size, weight, and level of the undead, but even a moderate undead consumed fewer resources than a living being.
“It’s not bad to have this in an emergency situation.”
However, it’s necessary to constantly supply corpses to maintain it, and after using it once, it can’t be used again until the blood is replenished, which limits it to once a day.
Of course, the blood lake can only be used to move between blood lakes, and there are distance limitations.
Those limitations depend on the magician’s skills, and at my current level, I can move freely between the three oases.
If that weren’t the case, there would be no reason to set it up in the first place.
Therefore, I had to regularly visit other oases to build various structures, and during that time, the underground research lab and the undead’s resting place, the crypt, were also completed.
After the blood lake was completed, the defense line around the first oasis, where I was, began to solidify.
I opened the gate every night and sent Orié to check the status, and based on the information obtained, I continuously filled in the gaps.
The first oasis, the Ghost Tower, had no problems, so I added structures to the second and third oases whenever corpses accumulated.
I added one more underground tomb, a graveyard where zombies spawned, a mire where mummies were born, and a black altar that could produce beast-type undead.
There were more beast-type monsters in the area than human-type, so I wanted to use some of these corpses as resources rather than consuming them all.
To do that, I installed the black altar with great effort, and as a result, beast-type undead began to roam around.
Although I indirectly controlled them, there was no need for me to manage them specially, given the undead’s characteristic of hating the living.
The installation site was the second oasis, where there were no living humans, so there was no need for management.
Gagar continued to produce undead by regularly offering corpses to the altar, and the resulting beast-type undead army was performing well.
Occasionally, they were hunted by underground monsters, but through their sacrifices, we could identify the positions of the underground monsters, and sometimes, the hunt was successful.
Recently, the prey for hunting had been working hard to reclaim the oasis, so the underground monsters were also starting to appear more frequently.
As the barren land was about to be dyed with blood, the Lenneta family, who had accepted my proposal, also began to move.
< 148th Episode ﹥ Rare
At first, Prina Lenneta listened to my investment intentions and fell into deep thought.
There was no immediate response, and only when I visited next time did I receive a letter with a question.
“What do you want me to do?”
I replied simply.
I wish to restore the castles.
From noble mtl dot com
If I can at least turn the cross-shaped stronghold into a supply base like in the past, restore the Desert Shield, and rebuild the abandoned villages, I can make it much better than it is now.
I’ll disperse the overcrowded population in the stronghold and provide a skeleton workforce if there’s still a shortage of people. A simple skeleton won’t be a burden, even if it’s in the thousands.
Its combat power may be almost nonexistent, but it can be used for simple labor. If the governing power is insufficient, I can use the building’s facilities, and if that’s inconvenient, I can use the undead commander-type to produce a large number of low-ranking skeletons for simple labor.
Of course, I don’t know if Prina will agree to this. She might feel threatened.
If I can restore the fertile land between the cross-shaped stronghold, the forest, and the Desert Shield, it’s only natural that the Rineta territory will regain its vitality.
By reclaiming the rich farmland, achieving self-sufficiency, and selling surplus products, I can acquire capital and use mercenaries to regain control over the entire territory.
“The royal family will surely connect us.”
The timing is also good.